Baptist Churches
Baptist Churches exist throughout the world. Baptist churches derived from the church of England, after worshipers left. Beginning after the reformation, Baptist church recognizes Jesus Christ as the origin of humans. The way the Baptists worship is different from how Catholics worship. Baptist churches are energetic and unconventional during worship and praise, where as Catholics tend to be more traditional and serene. Baptist churches make up the largest group among the Protestant section of Christianity. There are more than one hundred and ten million Baptist worshipers throughout the world. The Baptist church is over four hundred years old. The term Baptist is a Greek word that is associated with baptism. The Separatist movement that erupted out of the Catholic church started because many worshipers believed the faith included significant errors within it. To combat their dissatisfaction with the Catholic Church separatists left and formed their own religious movement. Through this movement the base of the Baptist church was created. A true Baptist is considered one who is baptized based off of the faith they possess. Once a person dedicates themselves to the Baptist faith they can be baptized or saved in the eyes of Christ.
Baptist Churches exist in the throughout different continents including; North America, Africa, South America, Asia, and Europe. Their are many different races that fall into the Baptist church as well. In the United States about forty million Baptists exist making it the largest amount of believers in one place. The second largest Baptist population exists in the continent of Africa, with a total of seven million people taking part in the Baptist Church. Specifically, the country of Nigeria holds about two million followers as well as the Republic of Congo. The third largest Baptist population belongs to the continent of Asia, which holds a total for about four and a half million followers within the Baptist Church. India inhabits about two million Baptists, with more spread out throughout Korea, Philippines, and Indonesia. In South America, about one and half million Baptists worship in Baptist churches. There are about one million Baptist believers residing in the country of Brazil. The smallest number of Baptists exist in places like Europe, Central America, Middle East, and Caribbean Islands throughout the world. Collectively Baptist Churches make up a large part of the Catholic faith, with influence throughout the entire world.
The Baptist church was formed after departing from the Roman Catholic Church, which explains the difference that exist between the two faiths. Baptist churches do not baptize children, they believe in adult baptisms, which do not save people from their sins. Believers in Christ that show a personal dedication to Christ shall be saved. They are different from believers in the Roman Catholic church in that they are not baptized during infancy. Another difference the Baptist church claims is the belief in pure faith as a salvation from Jesus Christ. In contrast, Roman Catholics believe that participating in ceremonies like Mass and Communions will bring them salvation. Mass is described as revisiting the death of Jesus Christ and creating the idea that he died more than once. Baptist Churches emphasize that fact that Jesus Christ is up in heaven and he died one time for all the sins of mankind. The Baptist Church therefore does not believe in Mass.
Baptist churches preach the belief in the existence of heaven and hell. Whereas the Roman Catholic church preaches the belief in purgatory, which is where people go to be set on fire for their sins. It is also a precursor before going to heaven. The Baptists preaches the independence of the church from all other churches and authority figures. The Roman Catholic church preaches universal churches in which they worship the pope. The two faiths also worship differently. Baptist churches believe in praying to GOD through Jesus Christ’s’ name, while Roman Catholics pray to holy figures like Mary and other saints. In addition, Roman Catholics believe that authority is held within the catholic bible, the Church itself, and the Pope. Baptist Churches recognize no authority other than the bible and the faith people have for Jesus Christ. The Roman Catholic church allows priests to act as the middle man between people and GOD. In the Baptist Church, there is now middle person in flesh between people in GOD, the only middle man is Jesus Christ the savior. Due to these significant differences, as well as many others, Baptist churches have remained a subset of the Catholic church. Throughout the existence of the Baptist church, conflict has risen between Baptists and Roman Catholic Churches. However, in recent years, figures within both faiths have tried to work together in the name of GOD.
In the United States, the Baptist church is often recognized as being associated with the southern region of the country. However, the first Baptist churches existed in the northern regions of the United States. Specifically, the first Baptist churches were first established in the state of Rhode Island. The widespread influence of the Baptist church quickly helped it spread throughout the United States as whole. Conflict began between the southern and northern states over slavery and whether it should be accepted. The southern Baptist churches went along with the feeling within the states as a whole and favored slavery for some time. They used the bible as reasoning, claiming that GOD allowed the use slaves without sin. The northern states however felt the exact opposite. The northern Baptist churches also went along with the views of the northern states themselves and denounced slavery. This conflict created the emergence of different organizations in which the Baptist church became a member of. These different organizations linked the different Baptist churches throughout the world. These organizations consist of The Baptist World Alliance, The Southern Baptist Convention, The Progressive National Convention, The National Baptist Convention U.S.A. Inc, and many more. Today many of these organizations still exist today, helping to unite each Baptist church around the world to a particular mission, in their own unique ways.
